MANILA, Philippines - Sunvar Realty Development Corp., the property company of the Rufino and Prieto families, said yesterday it would vacate the Mile Long property in Makati City, in compliance with an order of the Makati City regional trial court (RTC).
The company received from the RTC at 5:45 p.m. on Tuesday a notice to vacate the Mile Long property, the mixed-used development along Amorsolo Street, within three days.
The eviction notice was issued after the Court of Appeals on Aug. 14 directed the RTC to enforce a 2015 decision of the Metropolitan Trial Court (MeTC) of Makati Branch 61, which ordered Sunvar to vacate Mile Long and pay back rentals.
“While Sunvar has appealed the MeTC decision, it is committed to abiding by the legal process. In accordance with that commitment, Sunvar will comply and vacate Mile Long,” Sunvar legal representative Alma Mallonga said yesterday.
Sunvar and the tenants have three days upon receipt of the notice to vacate the 125,000-square-meter property.
Mallonga said the three-day period will end on Friday.
Some tenants started vacating the property yesterday.
The company maintained that it has entered into a legitimate transaction when it leased the undeveloped land of the government some 35 years ago.
Sunvar said that it was of the understanding that the lease period, as reflected in contracts annotated in the title of the land, would expire in 2027.
“Sunvar paid P16.8 million in advance rentals and expended millions more to build roads, buildings and infrastructure to develop the property which is why it is so valuable now. Relying on the same contract and understanding, small business owners and taxpayers purchased condominium units in Mile Long that are now the source of their livelihood,” Mallonga said.
Sunvar said it still believes in the legal processes of the country.
“Sunvar understands that the government has taken an opposite view. Sunvar continues to have faith in the law and legal process,” it said.
Sunvar earlier protested the government’s allegation of illegal occupancy and over the bid of the Office of the Solicitor General to eject it from the property.
It pointed out that institutions operated by the Makati and national government are also occupying the property.
“Some 35 years ago, at a time of political and economic uncertainty, Sunvar entered into a legitimate commercial transaction. It has pursued legal remedies to resist ejectment, firmly believing there is a binding contractual commitment on the part of the government to honor a lease that is set to expire only in 2027. Sunvar understands that the government has taken an opposite view,” she added.
Nevertheless, Mallonga said, Sunvar continues to have faith in the law and legal process.
In separate documents sent to The STAR, Sunvar stressed that the lease price paid by Sunvar is “comparably more than fair, around equal to purchasing the property at the time, and despite limits on only 50 percent of the entire area being usable for building construction.”
Sunvar developed where possible and subleased the rest to other building developers with the same rights it had under its lease agreement with the government.
“And so besides the original intent of Makati Square Amorsolo side access and parking area, the once barren land was improved with The Gallery building, Mile Long Theme Center building, Premiere THX Cinema, and more,” Sunvar said.
Sunvar and the Philippine Daily Inquirer, which is also owned by the Prieto family, have been the focus of President Duterte’s ire, claiming that the newspaper has been unfair in its reporting on him and his administration, an allegation the newspaper has denied.
He has recently threatened to file charges of economic sabotage against the owners of Sunvar for keeping their hold on the Mile Long property.
Duterte said the Prieto and Rufino families, through Sunvar Reality, have been holding the property for almost 50 years but they have no valid contract even as the company maintained that the lease contract is legitimate. – With Emmanuel Tupas